September 2004 Design school to help - The Hong Kong ...
Transcript of September 2004 Design school to help - The Hong Kong ...
PROFILE SEPTEMBER 20042
COVER STORYCOVER STORYIn this issue ...September 2004
COVER STORY 1-9Design school to help HK shine bright
SPECIAL REPORTS 10-11PolyU inventions snatch medals from Geneva
HEADLINE NEWS 12-19Top honours for PolyU members 12Engineering research is first again 13Collaboration with mainland institutes 14 reaches new heightMore non-local students in new 19 academic year
SCHOLARLY ACTIVITIES 20Self-cleaning fabric plays nano magic
CAMPUS REPORTS 21-24Caring for children in rural Guangxi 22
LIFELONG LEARNING 25HKCC applications at record high 25
STAFF & STUDENTS 26-29Vibrant summer at PolyU 28
ALUMNI 30-31Call for support to greening HK 30First alumni reunion in Chongqing 31
PROFILE is published quarterly by the
Communications and Public Affairs Office for staff
and friends of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
For our electronic version and back issues, please visit:
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Editor: David Poon
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Design school to help
“I remember when I was taking design at thePolytechnic, I was very much like today’s McDull, witha drop of sweat dripping down from there, quivering abit, and mouth wide open in awe. But of course therewere so many wonderful moments... .” Such were thesweet memories of Alice Mak Kar-bik, who takes pridein being a PolyU graduate.
Today, Ms Mak is well known as co-creator of McMug, a comic strip about two
kindergarten piglets McMug and McDull. Distinctly set in Hong Kong, the
comics gave rise to two popular animated films and series of memorabilia that
have won the hearts of many kids and adults at home and abroad.
This success story demonstrates very well that creative talent can blossom in Hong
Kong in an artistic sense and at the same time generate business opportunities.
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Hong Kong shine bright“The School of Design allows students to enjoy a strong sense
of freedom, so that we can better understand ourselves and find
our future directions,” said Alice. She is one of the hundreds and
thousands of professionals in design and related fields whom
PolyU has trained over the past four decades. Others on PolyU’s
glittering list of design alumni include Outstanding PolyU Alumni
Awardees Vivienne Tam, Dennis Chan Shui-lun, Freeman Lau Siu-
hong and Dr Rebecca Lee Lok-sze, as well as Eric Chan, Barrie Ho,
Honson Lee and Alan Yip, to name just a few.
The importance of creativity is increasingly widely recognized
with the emergence of knowledge-based economy and the
Government’s latest pledge to launch the “DesignSmart” Initiative.
By encouraging design-business collaboration, design research and
education and sharing of related resources, the scheme seeks to
help turn Hong Kong into a focal point of design excellence in the
region.
Emerging design hub of the OrientAs the pioneer of professional design education in Hong Kong,
PolyU is set to play a vital part in realizing this vision. University
Council Chairman, Honorary Professor of the School of Design
(SD) and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Hong Kong
Design Centre (HKDC) Mr Victor Lo Chung-wing is determined to
see this happening.
“We’re lucky in Hong Kong to have in these few years a
community full of support for design,” Mr Lo told a capacity crowd
comprising business leaders and designers at the recent Gala Dinner
hosted by the School and its alumni. Themed “Igniting the Flame:
40 years of Design@PolyU”, the dinner is one of SD’s recent series
of seminars, exhibitions and gala events to celebrate the School’s
rich heritage in offering design education.
When people all over Hong Kong are talking about budget cuts,
the Government announced its $250 million “DesignSmart” Initiative.
“That is a big message,” Mr Lo observed. He also credited University
President Prof. Poon Chung-kwong for having “such a big heart to
support design”, making possible the recent appointment of two
prominent Chair Professors to boost design education and research
at PolyU.
Evolution of the School of Design1964 The Hong Kong Technical College sent forth graduates from the course Certificate in
Commercial Design1967 Establishment of the Department of Industrial & Commercial Design1972 Renamed Department of Design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic and offered a three-year
Higher Diploma in Design course1981 Renamed Swire School of Design1993 Started to offer the programmes BA(Hons) in Art and Design Education and MA in Design1998 Started to offer BA(Hons) in Design programme1995 Redesignated as “School of Design” as the Polytechnic acquired university status
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Three distinguished design alumni honoured: Raman (middle),Tommy (right) and Paul.
Mr Lo at SD’s gala dinner
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Armed with his professional training in product design in
the US and solid industrial experience in employing and
advancing design, Mr Lo also chairs PolyU’s Design Task
Force. The team comprises a dozen renowned design experts
from different countries and advises PolyU on the way
forward for the design school. After issuing a strategic review
report last summer, the Task Force also offers advice on
SD’s implementation of a series of ambitious plans.
According to the report, the role of design as a “critical
determinant” in creating and adding value should be “more
clearly emphasized, understood and adopted”. This will
require not just government support, but also changed
attitudes on many levels across the community.
The report says that with the drastic increase of investment
of Hong Kong capital in the mainland, in particular the Pearl
River Delta, there is huge potential for design applications to
raise the value of products and the brand profiles of
companies.
So how is PolyU embracing these challenges? Prof. Leung
Tin-pui, Vice President (Student Development), Dean of the
Faculty of Communication and until recently Acting Head of
SD, said that SD had been putting a lot of emphasis on
forging links and partnerships with designers’ associations,
overseas design institutes as well as the public and private
sectors. SD’s recent series of seminars and gala events is just
one example.
Most importantly, the School is working hard to boost its
teaching. Prof. Leung said: “As the report of the Task Force
rightly points out, PolyU is to strategically combine design
with other technological and managerial disciplines in the
University.” Double degree programmes integrating design
and marketing, surveying and engineering are being planned
for the triennium starting 2005/06.
An integrative approachBacked by its diverse, application-oriented discipline
strengths, Prof. Leung said, PolyU should be in an excellent
position to achieve this strategy. Apart from SD, units that
contribute to nurturing and researching on innovative product
ideas and design concepts include the departments of
Electronic and Information Engineering, Industrial and Systems
Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Applied Physics,
Management and Marketing, Applied Social Sciences, the
Industrial Centre and the Multimedia Innovation Centre.
To give a clearer focus to meet industrial demand, the BA
(Hons) in Design programme curriculum is expected to be
restructured in 2005/06 to cover the four specialisms of
environmental design, industrial/product design, visual
communication and advertising.
It must be one of the most exciting summers forthe School of Design. To celebrate its achievementsas a pioneer and leader in design educationspanning four decades, staff, students, graduates,friends and industry partners joined hands to stagea special series of events themed “Igniting theFlame: 40 years of Design@PolyU”.
The packed schedule of events started with agala dinner, which was followed by a seminar ondesign and a public exhibition of the works createdby students and graduates. (More: See p. 29 for recentawards for staff and students from the design school.)
An eventful
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Grand reunion of design alumniHundreds of PolyU-trained designers from
across various industries and different generationsgathered together for a Gala Dinner hosted bythe School of Design and the School of DesignAlumni Association at the Kowloon Shangri-LaHotel on 4 June.
They were joined by two guests of honourMr Francis Ho and Mr Andrew Leung as well as agalaxy of design experts, friends and businessassociates in paying tribute to the School for itsmore than 40 years of history in grooming designtalents for Hong Kong. Mr Ho is PermanentSecretary for Commerce, Industry and Technologyof the HKSAR Government and Mr Leung isChairman of the Federation of Hong KongIndustries.
A highlight of the event was the presentationof special awards to outstanding design studentTimothy Cheung Ho-ming and the following threealumni in honour of their professionalachievements and contributions:
Mr Raman Hui — He rece ived the“Distinguished Design Alumni Award 2004(Overseas Professional)”. A 1984 graduate of thecourse Higher Diploma in Design (GraphicCommunication) of the Hong Kong Polytechnic,Raman is now Supervising Animator ofDreamWorks. He took part in the production ofthe Oscar-winning movie Shrek and the world’ssecond computer-animated film Antz.
Mr Tommy Li — The “Distinguished DesignAlumni Award 2004 (Local Professional)” went toTommy, who is a 1983 graduate of the HigherCertificate in Two-Dimensional Design course ofthe Polytechnic. He is Creative Director of TommyLi Design Workshop Limited, which specializes inposter and packaging design and corporateidentity programmes. Over the years, Tommy hasreceived over 100 awards including four from theNew York Art Directors’ Club.
Mr Paul Wong — Paul was granted the“Distinguished Design Alumni Award 2004(Special Merit)”. A 1985 Polytechnic graduate ofthe course Diploma in Design, Paul is a leadingguitarist of the band Beyond. He is a popularfigure in the local music scene and is known forhis creative talents in arts and music.
summer
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A new, self-financed Master of Design programme, commencing
in September, has reaped pleasing response following its
launch. Replacing the MA in Design offered in the past 10 years,
the new programme will offer high-level design education with an
emphasis on the integration of design with technology and
business.
“Creativity cannot be taught,” Prof. Leung remarked. “Yet at
PolyU we can inspire creativity through encouraging students to be
analytical and to experience how to turn fantasies into tangible
designs in their projects.”
On the research front, many exciting projects are on-going.
Counting those conducted by SD alone, Prof. Leung said, “The
School is joining hands with HKDC and overseas institutes to
jointly develop an Asian Life Style Data Centre on ergonomics,
cultures and trends in the region to provide industry with up-to-
date research data.”
“SD is also studying design development processes so crucial to
SAR’s future economy. The focus is on the move from OEM
[Original Equipment Manufacturing] to ODM [Original Design
Manufacturing] and OBM [Original Brand Management].”
Other interesting studies include “Chopsticks”, a joint project
which studies Asian eating habits and utensils, and “Travel Mate”, a
smart device for offering handy information for tourists visiting
Hong Kong. In support of the “DesignSmart” Initiative, more projects
across various academic departments at PolyU are being planned.
New leadership in design schoolWith so many ambitious plans on the plate, involving so wide a
range of industries and businesses, can PolyU achieve them? A key
person to address this question is the new Swire Chair Professor of
Design and Head of the School, Prof. Lorraine Justice. She was
Director of the Industrial Design Programme in the College of
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Showcase of student worksThe School of Design’s large-scale Design
Graduation Show entitled “Balance” and Seminar byDistinguished Alumni and Faculty caught much publicattention between 5 and 13 June.
The graduation show, held concurrently at theHong Kong Science Museum and PolyU’s DesignGallery, displayed about 300 creative works in total.They are all projects of the graduating students fromfour programmes, namely, BA (Hons) in Design,Higher Diploma in Mult imedia Design andTechnology, Higher Diploma in Product InnovationTechnologies and Diploma in Design Studies.
In addition, the show showcased the works ofalumni and professionals — including prominentdesigners such as Mr Dennis Chan, Mr FreemanLau, Mr Tommy Li and Mr Alan Yip.
MajorLink/Kaizor Award
Smart Fashion Store System, by Jones Lam and Jason Woo.
Effective dining system, by Catherine Leungand Wylen Yan.
Money exchange kiosk, by Catherine Chan,Conrad Leung and Mandy So.Silver Bronze
Gold
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Shortly after co-hosting an international workshop ondesign on 2 June (see photos below), SD held a Seminar byDistinguished Alumni and Faculty on campus on 5 June,featuring talks by design experts including Prof. John Heskett,Mr Kan Tai-keung, Mr Honson Lee, Mr Eric Chan, Mr AnthonyLo and Prof. Lorraine Justice.
Architecture at the Georgia Institute
of Technology in the US prior to
joining PolyU on 16 August.
According to Prof. Justice, there
is “great potential” for the further
development of SD. “The status of
the University, the faculty members,
the location of Hong Kong in
relation to the Chinese mainland and the rest of Asia add up
to great opportunities,” she said.
Apart from this locational advantage, both Professors Leung
and Justice stressed that the timing factor must not be
overlooked. Prof. Justice said: “The students and faculty of the
School work hard, so I am looking forward to giving them the
support, environment and learning opportunities they need to
thrive. Now is the time for that support because good design
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Prof. Justice
Prof. Leung thanks Mr Kan (left) for sharing his insightsat the Seminar by Distinguished Alumni and Faculty.
UGC Chairman Dr Alice Lam shows interest in the project “Yi Jing” by Outstanding Design Graduate of the Year Timothy Cheung.
Mist, a bathroom designed with audio facilities, by David Gu,Fung Siu-ming and Uzziah Tsui.
Philips Design Excellence Award
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will help China’s economy and help them compete in the
global market.”
Having taught in the areas of industrial design and
computer-human interface design for more than a decade,
Prof. Justice is a Fellow and former board member of the
Industrial Design Society of America. She was responsible
for organizing the first China-USA Industrial Design
Conference in Beijing and the first Doctoral Education in
Design Conference in Ohio. She also has ample experience
working as a professional designer.
Another leading design expert in industrial design who
recently joined SD as Chair Professor of Design is Prof.
John Heskett. Well-known author of the book Toothpicks &
Logos: Design in Everyday Life, Prof. Heskett was previously
Senior Research Fellow in Harvard University and a Professor
of the Institute of Design in the Illinois Institute of Technology
in Chicago. He has served as an advisor to Hong Kong’s
University Grants Committee on establishing SD’s degree
courses in design. He is also chief author of the Design
Task Force’s review report.
Prof. Leung, gratified to have two prominent experts at
the helm of SD, said that although the road ahead would
not be easy, he was confident PolyU would be able to fulfill
its ambitions and help make Hong Kong a premium design
hub. He said: “PolyU does have a very strong foundation.
We have the support of so many distinguished design
alumni. Moreover, Hong Kong is a truly international city
and Hongkongers are dynamic in thinking. We have a good
environment to nourish creativity.”
Prof. Justice shares this optimism: “Hong Kong is such a
great place. It is the pearl [of the Orient]! I know the School
of Design will help to show it off to the world. Asian design
has the strength, intelligence and beauty to enhance all of
our lives and I want to help make that happen.”
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